Frequently Asked Question

What Does The Raw Food Diet Consist Of?

The raw food diet consists mainly of fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. These four main food groups are great because they are essential in revitalizing the body’s immune system. These are whole and unprocessed foods. And it should not be heated above 118 Fahrenheit to preserve its nutrients and enzymes.
Enzymes are vital to help us digest and absorb nutrients properly. Without it, our body has to use its own limited supply to digest our food.
Fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh juices, nuts and seeds, sprouted beans and grains, fermented and cultured foods, and low dehydrated crackers, breads and treats are what constitute the wide cornucopia of raw living foods.

What are the benefits for eating completely raw?

When you are eating completely raw foods, you automatically eliminate most of the  unhealthy stuff.  Because raw food is devoid of preservatives, harmful fats, refined starches and sugar. Not to mention that the vitamins, minerals and photo-nutrients that are more available from it’s raw state. 

Raw living foods have the energy life force. Since life force is the essence of energy, it is what activates chemical energy in our bodies affecting our cells, tissues, bones and blood.

Generally it will improve your total health and well being. It gives you more energy and a sense of well-being. Thus, weight loss is a naturally occurring benefit when you eliminate processed foods.

Consuming more raw food is also good for the environment. Since animal products contribute a large percentage to our greenhouse gas emissions as well as water and land use.

Following a raw food diet has some definite benefits that can now be backed up through scientific research. For instance, according to a study found in The Journal of Nutrition following a raw food diet long-term can help lower the risk of cardiovascular disease, and lower the levels of total cholesterol and triglycerides. Another study conducted by Dr. Luigi Fontana and his team found that followers of a raw food diet have low body mass index (BMI), high Vitamin D levels, low levels of C-reactive protein, and lower levels of IGF-1. Vitamin D level is important because it is closely related to bone strength. C-reactive protein is "an inflammatory molecule that is becoming linked with the risk of heart disease, diabetes and other chronic disease," which means that a low level should indicate less risk. IGF-1 is "a growth factor linked to risk of breast and prostate cancer," which again means that a low level should indicate less risk.


To conclude recent mainstream scientific studies have shown that following a raw foods diet can lower the risk of cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, prostate cancer, diabetes, and other chronic diseases while aiding with maintaining a healthy weight, BMI, cholesterol levels, triglyceride levels, and strong healthy bones.

Why do we need to eat more raw food? How about cooking lots of vegetables?

We need to eat more raw foods because it contain their full complement of nutrients and are complete with the enzymes needed to turn the food into energy that the body can use. They make optimal assimilation of nutrition easy, provide pure, clean energy for the body and do not require a lot of energy for digestion.

There are several reasons why a raw food diet will give you more energy. First, raw foods are rich in food enzymes. Enzymes are required for every single reaction in the body. Unfortunately, our bodies only have a finite number of these enzymes, so when we run out, we run out of life!

To add to this, when you heat foods above 118 degrees fahrenheit, you destroy the food enzymes that are naturally present in all raw foods. Therefore, if you eat a predominantly cooked foods diet, you're not getting enough food enzymes, which means that your body will have to produce and use more of its own to digest and metabolize your foods.

The more energy your body needs to divert towards digestion, the less energy you will have for other activities. You will feel more lethargic and tired as your body is trying to breakdown the cooked foods and figure out what to do with them.

Cooking lots of vegetable could not equal the benefits of consuming raw foods even in small amounts. Because cooking dramatically reduces food’s phytochemical content. Research also indicates that cooking reduces the ability of antioxidants in food to do their job. Therefore, raw living foods is an optimal peak, it requires minimal energy from the body to get maximum benefit. Less work, more yield. Everybody wins !

What about getting the right amount of protein?

Protein is a very important part of a well-balanced diet. Unfortunately, there are a lot of misconceptions out there about how much protein is needed in order to be healthy. To receive the right amount of protein in your diet, you need to make sure that you are including enough amino acids in your diet. If you are on a raw food diet, there are several easy steps you can take to ensure that you are getting all of the protein that your body needs in order to stay healthy.

The main source of protein in raw food are sprouted nuts, seeds & grains. Green algae (like spirulina & chlorella) and green leafy vegetables are also an excellent source. But seeds, nuts and grains needs to be germinated to make the protein more absorbable.

Does that mean no rice ?

In the raw food diet, sprouted wild rice is use to make a pilaf. It can also be made as a salad or toss into one if you miss your rice.  A raw imitation or mocked fried rice can be made from cauliflower and sesame seeds with herbs and condiments. It is crunchy and even a bit juicy, with a hint of toasted sesame and just enough saltiness from the tamari to provide a satisfying contrast to the neutral cauliflower. It’s incredibly easy to make and comes together very quickly through a food processor.

Since “we eat first with our eyes…” Mock rice has the look of white rice and when topped with sauce, you’ll hardly notice a difference. The subtle, natural earthy-sweetness is downright tasty even! Before you know it, you will forget that this is your healthy moment. So just relax, turn off the brain and let the eyes, mouth and body enjoy the experience.

This mock rice ‘trick’ is beneficial for weight loss because cauliflower has a much lower glycemic load than rice and only about one quarter the calories of rice. It has fewer carbs and more protein.

What is an easy first step to eating more raw foods?

Start your day with 16 oz of pure water and a squeeze of fresh lemon or calamansi juice. Then have a powerful, nutrient-packed green juice or smoothie made with any talbos and fruits in season.

A powerful step to begin with is to set an intention and fall in love with the idea of  the raw food lifestyle. Include a clear vision of how healthy and happy starting a raw food diet will bring you. Get educated to learn about the different approaches to nutrition and health for the your changing needs. It will also help you create a common sense approach to this natural diet of fresh organic living foods. Experiment and have fun using simple and readily available ingredients in creating meals.

 

 

Is it alright to go half and half, half raw food, half regular eating?

Typically followers of a raw food diet consume at least 75% of their diet as uncooked and otherwise unprocessed plant based foods. But it is alright to go half and half specially if you’re just starting. Example of 50% raw and the other half cooked like a green juice with energy bar and big salad with warm soup.

There’s a lot of food combination that you can adapt and include in the raw food lifestyle. You just have to start somewhere.

What is your go-to, easy to make raw food snack?


You never need to go hungry on the raw food lifestyle. In fact, it's much better if you don't. When you're hungry, you're far more likely to give in to temptations and make poor food choices. Plus, if your calorie intake falls too low, your body slows down your metabolism to keep you from possibly starving.
Raw food snacks can be as simple as grabbing an apple or banana, or as complicated as a gourmet raw food dessert recipe. Easy to go to snack are raw granola and trail mixes with fruits (fresh, dried or dehydrated). Guacamole with Chips and energy bars done the raw food way is also a good idea. You can even make a raw food smoothie to go as a snack or veggie sticks with a raw dip like honey with tahini.  Use your own creativity and substitute different ingredients for even more variety.

What stories have you heard where people's health has benefited from changing to raw food?


When your diet consist of more than 75% raw foods, here are just some of the improvements likely to happen to you.

• More energy
• Weight loss
• Clear, younger looking skin
• Clarity of mind and better memory
• Improved immune system
• Improved digestion
• Prevent some chronic disease from severe acne & candida to diabetes and cardio vascular problems

When you go for a healthy raw food diet weight loss is effortless.. You could eat as much raw food but still your body fat percentage can substantially drop to an ideal level.

What benefits have you enjoyed since eating raw?

I was diagnose with a bad case of endometriosis. It is a case of hormonal imbalance that I experience terrible cramps. So I tried everything from different pain reliever, medication, laparoscopy operation, exercise, accupuncture, etc.. Most of which just gave me temporary relief. I did a lot of research and found out that I'm glutten sensitive, yeast, soy and lactose intolerant.  When I finally turned into raw the pain went away, improve my total health and shed all the unwanted pounds for good..

References :

(1) http://altmedicine.about.com/od/popularhealthdiets/a/Raw_Food.htm
(2) http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/abstract/135/10/2372?maxtoshow=&H...
(3) http://www.nzherald.co.nz/diabetes/news/article.cfm?c_id=174&objectid...
(4) http://www.iowasource.com/food/lenkastudy_0806.html

http://www.oprah.com/food/Should-You-Go-on-a-Raw-Food-Diet-Raw-Food-Diet-Benefits
http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/stories/5-ways-to-get-started-with-raw-food

 
1. What food types did you eat before ?

Before, I use to eat the Standard Filipino Diet. Since I grew up in Lipa Bulanglang Dish is a staple (it's a combination of locally produce vegetable some of it came from our backyard like kibal, kalabasa w/ talbos, patola, white mais and okra simply boiled in hugas bigas and garlic). Therefore, it's mostly fish and vegetables and occational meat. Now, it's mostly raw vegetables and occational fish & rarely have meat (this happens if I'm in a party & it's with the vegetable dish).


Bulanglang Recipe

This is my Mom's recipe. If your just starting to be a raw vegan this will surely help you out. We don't use any oil, fish or bagoong. Unlike the other versions that you may come across with. You get the hugas bigas after rinsing the uncooked rice grains normally the third or fourth time ..

Ingredients:
1 cup malunggay leaves
1 cup white corn
1 cup kalabasa, cubed and talbos w/ flowerettes
2 cups rice washing (hugas bigas)
1 cup patola, sliced
1 clove minced garlic
1 small piece ginger, thinly sliced
Rock Salt to taste
How to cook Bulanglang:

• Mix kalabasa, white corn, ginger and garlic in a deep sauce pan or pot.
• Add rice washing and boil.
• After 5 minutes cooking, add patola.
• When patola is almost tender, add malunggay and kalabasa flowerettes and cook for 2 more minutes.
• Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

2. Pls tell us what drove you to go raw ..

Since high school I'm trying to be vegan to loose weight. But just don't know how to do it the right way. All I eat are Iceberg lettuce (w/c practically has low nutrients and most of the time has lots of pesticides), tomato and cucumber with the other cooked veggies and fish. Then when I got married, the doctor told me that I have endometriosis. It is a case of hormonal imbalance that really cause terrible cramps for 2 days of my period. The doctor said there's no cure for it unless I got pregnant. But since it's the cause of my infertility, that would be a chicken and egg situation. So I tried everything, different pain reliever, medication, laparoscopy operation, diet, exercise, accupuncture, etc.. Most of which just gave me temporary relief. Until 6 years ago, I really sit on it. Did a lot of research and found out that I'm glutten sensitive, yeast/lactose intolerant and I need to go vegan. I did it w/c in turn really lessen the pain and improve my total health. Good thing i really love cooking and experimenting. Got hold of a lot of cook books, magazines. watching the lifestlye channel and going to their websites. But most of the time still I find my food bland and boring.

3. Who were your influences to go raw

In one of my appointments with my fertility doctor I meet this lady and we have almost the same problem. In fact her medical case is worse than mine. And all the time that were waiting, she's been talking about what Ernie Baron advise her to do which is TO GO RAW VEGAN (but he never tell us in in radio program the details on how to go about it). And she did it for 6 months completely raw and eating mostly fruits cause she doesn't know anything about raw food preparation. But she said it really eliminated the symptoms of endometriosis and right there we found out that she got pregnant.

But I still didn't try to do it at that point. Cause I don't think I have the determination to stay in that diet. Until I watched in the Lifestlye Channel which featured the personal chef of Demi Moore. Whose a Raw Food Chef which caters to all of Demi's favorite dishes but prepared the raw food way. Wow, it blew my mind that there's such a thing ! That is if she wants pizza, burritos, pasta almost anything in the cooked world he can prepare it raw and may taste even better.. That's the time I got into it & got hooked.

4. Tell us something about the spa you used to run

I run a Wellness Spa for 5 years were we only used organic materials like essetial oils, virgin coconut oil, seaweeds, activated charcoal, herbs, spices and other botanicals. We use these for Detoxification Body Wraps, Body Scrubs, facials, etc. I'm really into Wellness cause I believe in prevention. I really want everyone make improvements to their health by just doing the basics. Starting with the food we eat, our thoughts and the things we do. It's really the balance of the body, mind and spirit. We plan to have a place were you can do most of it. Where you can learn, live and also pamper yourself. This Wellness Centere will be open in a year here in Makati.

5. Tell us something about your Raw Food Class

After years of research, learning and experimentation it came to a point that I feel the need to share it to all those who are interested to prepare nourishing and tasty meals. Most are easy to prepare, economical and delicious. From the right way to clean your organic produce to presentation. It is a 4 hour workshop that includes 5 cuisines starting from Breakfast Smoothie, appetizer, salad, main dish and guilt free dessert. Participants may eat all they want plus we explain how the body works, how it can heal itself given the right conditions. Handouts are also provided and continued emails for more recipes and information.


Vegan Raw Food is good for you, your family and the planet !

It's really worth it to give it a shot ...